With Abu Dhabi T10 league all set to begin later this month former Pakistani skipper, Shoaib Malik, said that T10 is the perfect format to bring new audiences to cricket.
The eight-team event was expected to take place during the last couple of weeks of November 2020. However, it was pushed forward as IPL 2020 took place during that time in the UAE.
2010 T20 World Cup winner, Pakistan's Shoaib Malik is gearing up to feature in the fourth season of the Abu Dhabi T10 tournament. The former has been appointed as the captain and icon player for the defending champions Maratha Arabians.
Pakistani veteran all-rounder, Shoaib Malik, said that that the 10-over-a-side is a perfect format to lure a new audience to the game as it is short and of course, full of runs making it exciting and unpredictable.
"It's always nice to be part of something positive in the game. T10 is a perfect advert to bring new audiences to cricket as it's short, exciting, and a great way to show the best of cricket, especially the new skills that players are continually bringing," said Shoaib Malik in an official release.
Shoaib Malik, who has scored over 11,000 runs in international cricket, will play alongside his national teammate Mohammad Hafeez, referring to which 38-year-old said that it will be nice to play alongside his long-time Pakistan teammate.
Dwayne Bravo feels T10 format can bring a revolution in cricket like T20
"It will be nice to be a teammate with my long-time international colleague Mohammad Hafeez. Plus, there are always new stars to identify as T10 offers fantastic opportunities and exposure to so many players. Hopefully, those new stars will come from Maratha Arabians," said Shoaib Malik.
Commenting on the strengths of his team Shoaib Malik said that T10 is an unpredictable tournament but they have a mixture of experience and raw talent and hopefully they can enjoy and win few matches.
"We have a mixture of experience and raw talent so hopefully we can all come together and contribute to the team cause and see if we can enjoy our cricket and win a few matches. You never know in T10. It's an unpredictable format, which is why it's exciting," he said.
Shoaib Malik is coming off a title-winning run in the LPL T20 for the Jaffna Stallions and was awarded Man of the Match in the final.
The defending champions Maratha Arabians are all set to kick-start the fourth season of the Abu Dhabi T10 league with a high-voltage clash against Northern Warriors at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi on January 28, 2021.
(ANI Inputs)
